Ina's Outrageous Brownies--Barefoot Bloggers

Our second Barefoot Bloggers regular recipe pick for May is Ina's Outrageous Brownies and was selected by Eva at I'm Boring. If you came by to see how I "healthified" these babies, sorry to disappoint you but I didn't! Some things, like brownies, belong on the "don't mess with it" list. You either go big or you go home, don't try using less sugar or cutting the (gulp!) pound of butter. In this case, I went solely for the portion control plan--making a half batch, keeping a couple and getting the rest out of the house and on someone else's hips. In fact I even went so far as to take out the only healthy, redeeming part of this recipe, the walnuts. For some reason, I just I don't like the texture of nuts messing up the gooey/chewiness factor of a good brownie. To replace them, I added just what this brownie needed, more chocolate! A mix of white, milk chocolate and semi-sweet chips to make them even more decadent. (Not that they needed any help!) Otherwise I left the recipe the same. 

This recipe can be found at the Food Network here or in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (page 172). They were adapted from a recipe for "chocolate globs" in the Soho Charcuterie Cookbook.

Outrageous Brownies

Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

(Makes 20 Large Brownies)

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Notes/Results: As brownies go, these earn their name, they are pretty outrageous; decadent, chocolaty, and very, very good. At first I thought I might have under-baked them a bit too much, then I was convinced that I over-baked them. (Just a little brownie paranoia brought on by the "Do not over-bake!" on the recipe). Finally, once they cooled, I decided that they were just about right and just as moist, and actually even better after a day or two wrapped up in the fridge. The instant coffee powder made them nice and rich and I liked the the different kinds of chocolate chips in each bite. Even a half batch made way more than enough brownies; you need a crowd for these and they are so rich, a little goes a long way. 

Thanks Eva for a fun and delicious pick!  You can see what the other Barefoot Bloggers thought of this recipe by going to the BB site here.